01

A/N: "These mean that the dialogue is spoken"

'This means that the dialogue is being thought'

*This means that it is a sound*

All the conversations with the system are in the main character's mind and are not heard by the others.

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-Konoha-

The setting sun lit Konoha in an orange light, revealing happy scenes of young children playing and running around, hawkers working on their stalls and people returning after the day's hard work.

The village, even after two ninja wars, somehow stood at the top of the five hidden villages.

At the cemetery, a boy who was around 9 years old with short black hair and a cute face, was kneeling in front of a tombstone which had the words "The Sword Demon, Fuduka Norio" engraved upon it.

The young boy wore a sad expression on his face.

He started to speak," Hey, dad, I am here again, alone, as usual. You know, today, I made a new friend. Also, don't worry, I will get stronger and protect mom from any danger that may come. Ah, I almost forgot, yesterday when I was on my hunt I…"

Tears slowly started falling from his face as he touched the tombstone.

"...Everything is alright and-and…" The boy now completely broke down into tears as he said while sobbing "...I miss you, dad. I miss you so much. I just cannot-…"

He sobbed there for a long time, sitting alone in front of a grave.

Half an hour later, he stood up and went to a pond nearby to wash his face, trying to hide the traces left behind by his tears.

After washing his face, he looked at his reflection in the water and tried his best to put on a smile.

He left the cemetery and went to a nearby sweets shop.

There, he ordered quite a lot of sweets and spent all his money on them.

It wasn't his pocket money, but rather, the money he got from hunting and selling animals.

Eating sweets was his way of coping with sadness.

'Mom must be worried by now. I don't want to get scolded today too.' The boy thought as he paid and left the sweets shop in a hurry.

He started walking and soon reached a house.

It was not big but not small either, it was a perfect house for a family of three.

He entered the house and announced," I'm home, mom."

As he announced, a woman in her thirties with Auburn hair wearing an apron came out of a room.

"Welcome back, my cutie-pie. Should I make you dinner?" The woman asked. She was the little boy's mother. Her name was Aayu Norio.

"Nah, mom. I ate something on my way home." The boy said as he walked upstairs into his room and sat on a chair.

The boy's first name was Yukan, meaning courage. He reincarnated in the Naruto world, as the son of Fuduka Norio, a powerful elite jonin and his mother, who had always been a normal citizen.

In his previous life, he was an orphan since birth and had no clue who his real parents were. Having never received any kind of love, neither from someone, he could call family nor a lover made him very desperate for love.

Thus, the warmth he received from his parents in this life as Yukan Norio made him very attached to them.

As for Yukan's talent of being a ninja. Until the age of 7, he had an ordinary talent and would have been a jonin at best, but 2 years ago, he awakened a system.

The 'Swordsman template system'.

With this system, he would receive any character's sword skills and power.

"Haiz…Time to train now." Yukan got up from his chair and said in a determined voice," I'll do it today."

He picked up the katana lying in the corner of his room and jumped out of the window.

Behind his house, in the forest, Yukan unsheathed the katana and started swinging it.

- a few hours later-

2998..2999….3000

Yukan finally fell after doing 3000 swings.

His hands were trembling from pain and exhaustion, but a smile appeared on his face. He was happy to work hard till his body was in pain. He did surpass his limits.

[Ding!]

[Swordsman Template: Benimaru unlock progress: 15%]

"Finally reached" Yukan closed his eyes as he tried to get his breath back to normal.

A few minutes later, he opened his eyes again and said in his mind," Show me my status, system"

[Host: Yukan Norio]

[Age: 9]

[Template: Benimaru] A/N: (The one from Tensura. Also I am only taking the powers he had in the anime before Rimuru became a Demon Lord and not in the L.N)

[Abilities:

Kijin Physique (Level 1)

Swordsmanship (Level 1)

Magical sense (Or chakra sense)

Steel strength (Level 0) {NEW}]

[Items:

Black Katana]

Yukan was very happy to see his progress.

Reaching 15% took him 2 years but still…

"Hey system, why is my unlocking progress so slow? Any reasons?" Yukan asked as he continued to lie down.

[The reason for host's progress to be so slow is that the host is human]

"...What?" Yukan was completely confused from what the system said and suddenly sat up.

[The Host currently has the physique of a human which is very weak and fragile compared to that of a Kijin and thus, it is going to be a lengthy process to obtain the Kijin Physique]

Yukan sighed heavily as he closed the system window quietly.

Currently, with his power, Yukan could survive the time before the fourth ninja war. But the fourth ninja war…

Although Yukan had a strong father and a beautiful mother, he only inherited his mother's genes for looks and not his father's talent. Neither his mother nor his father belonged to any big clans in Konoha and even now, when he has a system, he still has to work hard to get strong.

He continued to lie on the ground for a long time before he suddenly remembered," Shit! Tomorrow will be the graduation exam. Gotta get ready for it."

Yukan wanted to eat something..a lot of things before he went to get some sleep on his sweet bed but as he went inside his house, he realized the bad smell coming from him and first went to wash up.

The physique of Kijin did not come without a large requirement for nutrition.